tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19991180352107944162015-02-05T09:28:21.744+13:00PatentBuffMusings of an intellectual property lawyer, amateur farmer and heritage enthusiast.PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.comBlogger232125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-37721117502461466342014-09-15T21:36:00.000+12:002014-09-15T21:36:47.844+12:00Signposts for software patents
The New Zealand Patents Act 2013 came into force today. Less than a week before the General Election I wasn't expecting a lot of fanfare. But there has been a lot of work done getting ready.
As the Patents Bill worked its way through the legislative process, one of the hotly debated topics was the extent to which patent protection should be available for computer-implemented inventions. These PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-2812906248623241252014-06-20T23:03:00.000+12:002014-06-20T23:03:11.453+12:00US Court says no to patent on computer-implemented business method
The United States Supreme Court has handed down a decision that is important for all business method patent applicants. In Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v CLS Bank International et al the Court held that use of a generic computer does not transform an abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention.
Alice Corporation is the owner of several patents covering a business method for mitigating PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-90648087959232167102014-03-31T21:22:00.000+13:002014-03-31T21:22:19.199+13:00Another look at crowd sourcing
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is hosting a roundtable event on the use of crowdsourcing to identify relevant prior art. The USPTO wants to improve the quality and increase the quality of third party submissions.
Background
The USPTO has been collecting ideas from the software community via the Software Partnership to enhance the quality of software-related patents. In PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-50324585803088784692014-01-21T23:16:00.001+13:002014-01-21T23:16:31.940+13:00Twenty years on
Last week I passed a significant milestone. I've now been an intellectual property advisor for twenty years. I think that entitles me to dwell a bit on how things used to be and how they are now.
Technology
One of the biggest changes over the last twenty years has got to be our use of technology.
Back in 1994 I had a single cathode ray tube (CRT) screen connected to a mainframe in a server PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-17606847027882440392013-12-18T21:45:00.002+13:002013-12-18T21:45:48.040+13:00IPONZ consults on new patent regulations
The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) has just issued a discussion paper seeking feedback on proposed regulations and fee changes. Submissions must be made to IPONZ by 24 January 2014, although I'm aware that extensions may be available.
The New Zealand Patents Act 2013 is due to come in to force on 13 September 2014. The regulations will set out the mechanics of how New PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-42855724151373032882013-11-25T20:23:00.002+13:002013-11-25T20:23:30.964+13:00TPP and patentable subject matter
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks involve delegations from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam. Right now a TPP Chief Negotiators summit is drawing to a close in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The talks are technically conducted in secret. However there seems to be a constant stream of leaked drafts PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-22981446866268360172013-11-20T21:24:00.000+13:002013-11-20T21:24:38.482+13:00Black hole expenditure
We each have our own version of a black hole. In my home I'm sure there is a black hole that removes random items from my kids' LEGO sets, last season's garments from my wife's wardrobe, and random socks from my sock drawer.
The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has yet another version of a black hole. Black hole expenditure is defined in the discussion document as:
'business expenditure that PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-85350154837076963022013-11-17T11:07:00.000+13:002013-11-17T11:07:00.006+13:00New Zealand prepares for SAP & SEP
Intellectual property law is replete with acronyms. Commerce Minster Craig Foss recently added two more. We are now going to have a single application process (SAP) and a single examination process (SEP) for New Zealand and Australian patent applications.
The press release is a little bit tabloid in that the title 'Single trans-Tasman patent application approved' doesn't quite match the story. PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-51369002589327246382013-10-17T21:05:00.003+13:002013-10-19T07:19:34.799+13:00The intellectual property gap
The results of the annual Market Measures* study are out again. The study provides an overview of how New Zealand tech companies typically take their innovations to market. This year a record 346 companies put in the time and effort to complete the survey, up 25% on 2012.
Export focussed
Market Measures’ annual benchmarks continue to paint a picture of a buoyant, export-focused sector with a PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-23589225508246667762013-09-16T20:14:00.000+12:002013-09-16T20:14:00.889+12:00New Zealand bans patents for software
The New Zealand Government recently put in place a new Patents Act. One of the hotly debated topics was the extent to which patent protection should be available for computer-implemented inventions. These types of inventions are often referred to in mainstream media and anti-patent communities as "software patents".
So have we banned software patents? Or have we banned patents for software? PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-79643693101339631512013-07-08T21:58:00.003+12:002013-07-08T21:59:53.362+12:00Who are the innovation leaders?
Have you ever wondered which countries have the best innovation ecosystems? We all know that innovation is important. But which countries are the best at it?
The Global Innovation Index
Last week we saw the launch of the Global Innovation Index 2013 (GII 2013). The Index is co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The GII 2013 ranks PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-44158552471991678772013-07-06T07:35:00.001+12:002013-07-06T07:35:04.009+12:00The halftime report
Is it July already? It's time to reflect on which PatentBuff posts published this year have been most popular. There's a real range here.
Once again, patent law reform and regulation of the patent profession are hot topics. Also up there are examples of case law on the patentability of software and business methods in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Copyright has also beenPatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-8327106805852074912013-07-02T21:51:00.001+12:002013-07-02T21:51:40.261+12:00Curtains for the Cinema - the sequel
The New Zealand cinematic industry can breathe a sigh of relief. The mechanism to protect them from competition with different formats such as DVD, Blu-Ray, Pay-Per-View or Free-To-Air is set to continue for another three years.
The Copyright Act bans parallel importation of films into New Zealand for nine months from the international release date.
That protection mechanism is set to PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-23379932327578248982013-06-16T12:02:00.000+12:002013-06-16T12:02:40.458+12:00Another case of the disappearing hens
Some of our hens are disappearing. It's a hard one to measure. We don't know exactly how many hens we have. We think it is somewhere between 15 and 20. They are free range so we're never quite sure where they all are at any given time.
But there is still a sense that they occasionally disappear. Someone or something is helping themselves without asking. Our flock is a bit like a lolly jar to PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-87942278155188291322013-06-13T22:42:00.000+12:002013-06-17T15:26:36.163+12:00Beware the moonlighting bureaucrat
In my last post I posed the question of whether we would see New Zealand patent examiners moonlighting as patent attorneys. This idea is not as far-fetched as it sounds. Consider the following example. I am not making any of this up.
The applicant
A few years ago an inventor in a rural New Zealand town came up with an invention for a spray tank assembly for an all terrain vehicle (ATV). He PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-20824424266310310392013-06-12T21:58:00.000+12:002013-06-12T21:58:02.939+12:00A trans-Tasman approach to patent examination
Two years ago the New Zealand and Australian Governments announced a faster, cheaper and more streamlined trans-Tasman process for securing patent rights in New Zealand and Australia. A single patent application and examination process for both countries, we were told, will remove duplication, drive efficiencies and reduce costs.
Further details of the plan have now emerged with the PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-20287335051238621622013-06-05T20:43:00.001+12:002013-06-12T22:11:29.354+12:00Traditional knowledge - the proverbial square peg
South Africa is wrestling with the issue of how to protect traditional knowledge. Do you tweak traditional intellectual property rights to accommodate traditional knowledge? Or do you create a whole new sui generis (independent) regime?
The Waitangi Tribunal
In New Zealand we have been looking at this issue for years. We have the Waitangi Tribunal, set up to make recommendations on claims PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-30598919028286462742013-05-24T20:12:00.000+12:002013-05-24T20:12:01.564+12:00Insurance method patent okay says IPONZ
In a decision published recently, the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) allowed a patent on a technique for providing data insurance.
It has been standard practice for some time to make periodic backup copies of stored data to mitigate financial and similar harm caused by data loss. However, there are some problems with existing techniques.
New Zealand patent 563320 PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-24711265693724821172013-05-21T20:58:00.000+12:002013-05-21T20:58:11.717+12:00Maintaining a global patent portfolio
Building a strategic patent portfolio requires tough decisions to be made all the time. In which countries do I file patent applications? Which patent applications should I abandon? Which issued patents should I maintain?
In a previous post I outlined one corporate strategy. You view country selections as a set of buckets that are grouped to define the different business approaches to the PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-28970022751946158482013-04-17T20:15:00.001+12:002013-07-06T07:54:51.080+12:00Curtains for the Cinema
New Zealand has a way of preventing cinemas from having to compete with different formats such as DVD, Blu-Ray, Pay-Per-View or Free-To-Air. The Copyright Act bans parallel importation of films into New Zealand for nine months from the international release date.
Government officials are likely to recommend removal of this mechanism. Does this mean curtains for the cinema?
Legislation
SectionPatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-21290735149554820112013-04-10T22:21:00.001+12:002013-04-10T22:21:22.434+12:00Ten years on
Last week I passed a significant milestone. I suddenly realised that I have spent ten years as an equity partner in an IP law firm. So what's changed over the last decade?
Social networking
One of the most significant changes is the emergence of social media tools. It seems strange to think back to a time when my LinkedIn and Twitter accounts and this blog were not part of my daily PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-25817062632557806972013-04-05T21:18:00.000+13:002013-04-05T21:21:34.551+13:00The last of the patent attorneys
Patent attorneys are a rare breed in New Zealand. Under a new regulatory framework announced this week we are going to become even scarcer. Or maybe we are simply going to see fewer registered patent attorneys who do not do patent attorney work.
The Governments of Australia and New Zealand have announced an arrangement to give effect to a joint regulatory framework for patent attorneys to PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-67659006507239153662013-03-12T22:22:00.000+13:002013-03-15T08:45:48.796+13:00Canada's purposive proposal
A couple of years ago I covered the decision of the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal involving Amazon.com and the company's 'one-click' patent application. Click here for my post and here for a copy of Canada (Attorney General) v. Amazon.com, Inc. et al., 2011 FCA 328 (F.C.A.).
As a result of the decision, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has put in place a new approach for PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-6548044890539164812013-03-09T07:56:00.000+13:002013-03-09T07:56:36.741+13:00Rembrandt clicks the Dislike button
Rembrandt Social Media is taking Facebook to task over Facebook's use of its wall, timeline, news feed and like buttons.
This case has all the right elements to become a media darling. It involves a deceased inventor, a patent troll, a household brand, a household icon, and software patents. What else could you ask for?
Rembrandt filed a complaint for patent infringement last month in the PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1999118035210794416.post-86913504200272377932013-02-20T21:16:00.002+13:002013-02-20T21:16:53.409+13:00The national phase workaround
New Zealand is in the process of overhauling 60-year old legislation. The new Patents Bill is intended to create a balanced patent system that will protect inventions and encourage innovation.
One of the challenges imposed on the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) is to put in place a new computer system that will handle both sets of laws seamlessly. This is an impossible task.PatentBuffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02740740331905014250noreply@blogger.com0